mystery

respond

The Most High calls to us and waits for us to respond. He desires to quench our deepest thirst, to satisfy our deepest hunger, and to fill us with His power and presence as we dwell in the secret place of the Most High.

Cynthia Heald

Anything I feel a desire to do in my relationship with God is initiated by Him. He calls me, woos me and waits for me to respond. He is wants to meet my needs ~ quench my thirst and satisfy my hunger…for Him.

May you respond to His leading…
may you sense His presence.

Grace and peace,
Deb

prayer

God to enfold me,
God to surround me,
God in my speaking,
God in my thinking.

God in my sleeping,
God in my waking,
God in my watching,
God in my hoping.

God in my life,
God in my lips,
God in my hands,
God in my heart.

God in my sufficing,
God in my slumber
God in mine ever living soul,
God in mine eternity.

Celtic Prayer

walk the walk

“One of the best ways to reach our culture is to live compelling lives.”

Gary Thomas

The people we come in contact with aren’t in need of our words, our take on what is wrong with culture and what is right with God. They are in need of seeing us as people who live what we believe. They need to see integrity. They need to sense our love and compassion. They need to know we care…not just about them coming to know God and changing, but that we care about them right where they are. They need to see something in us that draws them to Christ. I am convinced that will not come because of our ‘preaching’ at them but because they see us living lives that defy explanation. They see us living in peace when our circumstances may look chaotic. They see us slowing down when life is frantic. They see us living authentically, not pretending that a life with God is always easy.

May you live in integrity today.

May you live in a place of compassion and love.

May you reflect Christ to those around you in a compelling way.

May you ‘walk the walk’.

Grace and peace,
Deb

love

“If you want to find out who people are, don’t are them what they do but what they love.”

Augustine

I was part a conversation recently where people discuss how they feel about being asked ‘what they do.’ The responses ranged from seeing it as an easy way to start a conversation to feeling it was a way to ‘categorized’ someone based on their employment. Personally, I have experienced both.

I love this quote because I think it speaks to the rarity of each of us being able to do, for money, what we love. Sometimes, that is the case. I am one who is so blessed. I have the privilege of doing what I love and getting paid for it.

But, many of us work, to earn the money, to do what we love. Our job doesn’t define us…it is a means to an end. And then there are those who do not get paid at all but are doing what they were designed to do. I am thinking of a beautiful, college educated, talented young woman who has made the decision to stay at home and care for her child. She is fully capable of earning an income in any number of ways but her heart’s desire is to build into the life that has been entrusted to her. It is heartbreaking that she feels the need to justify why she has made this choice. If you ask her what she does, she may say, “Nothing. I’m a stay-at-home mom.” If you ask her what she loves, she’ll say “Being a mom.”

Consider asking someone today, what they love. It will give you a much deeper glimpse into their life than asking them what they do.

Grace and peace,
Deb

beloved

I just returned from leading a retreat. 27 women spent the weekend pondering God’s love for them. It was an enlightening time. They recognized how He has been pursuing and desiring an intimate relationship with them.

Helping to move them into the space of receiving His love was the following piece by Lynne Hybels, called “Let Me Love You”:

Come away, God says. Yes you, come away and sit with me. Come and let me give you the gift of my presence. I want to share the stillness of this moment with you. I want to whisper words of kindness to you. I want to pour my infinitely rich and deep love into your very soul.

So come, let me love you. Let me love that part of you that believes you are valuable only while you are serving others. You are valuable for just who you are. You don’t have to keep running. You don’t have to prove your worth through frantic activity. Let me love that part of you that is weary and needs to rest. Listen, listen as I tell you to drop your burdens right now, and rest like a child in the presence of a loving Father.

So come. Sit with me. Let me love you.

May you rest in His love today….

Grace and peace,
Deb

journey (posted early as I am on retreat)

“Are you tired of knowing an awful lot about God but precious little of God?”

Gary Thomas

My relationship with God needs to be in more than my head. I can know about God without knowing Him. One of my desires over the past several years has been to move what I know from my head…to my heart. I have fallen in love with God, and feel loved by Him.

They say that the 18 inches from the head to heart can be a very long distance. But there is no more important journey.


May you begin to experience His love in a new way.

May you have passion in your relationship with Him.

If you recognize if you are living your life with God from your head and not your heart, may you make the 18 inch journey.


Grace and peace,
Deb